Helpful Stranger
by GirlieGirl101
Summary: Bella is a girl that lives in London at the time of WWII. She decides to make a run for the country, and hopefully, safety. Who is the stranger helping her and her brother? And why? AH B/E A/J R/Em **DISCONTINUED**
1. Chapter 1  Bombs and Shelters

_**Hi, I'm Jen. This is my first fanfic, and I hope you enjoy it!**_

I heard the air raid sirens ring out, as I fled the house with my 2 year old brother, Thomas in my arms. My mother, Renée, and sisters, Anna and Margret, were close on my heels. I stumbled as I flew towards the bomb shelter, and Thomas squirmed. He was clinging to me as I ran, as I was his favourite person. I, being 17, was the eldest of 4 Swan children.

It is the 27th of October, 1940. I live in the Port of London with my mother and siblings, and we are currently being raided by the Nazi bombers again. We should be used to this by now, as it has been almost a nightly occurrence since that fateful night, almost 2 months ago when it all began.

My father died in the first bombing of London, along with many others. I was not coping well at all, but my mother was destroyed by the news. I have been thrust into what should have been her role, and so I have not yet mourned my father fully, because I am constantly looking after Margret, Anna, and Thomas. Speaking of which, the girls were slowing.

'Bella! Get them to go faster!' Mama asked as we heard the drone of planes approaching. Finally, we reached the shelter, and ran down the stairs. I found a corner for us to settle in as we prepared to wait for the all-clear.

I studied my family as we huddled together in our corner. Mama was drawn, pale and haggard, but she was still strikingly beautiful. She had smoky grey eyes that were stunning even through their unique colour. Paired with her slightly wavy blonde hair, Mother was by far the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I moved my gaze to Margret and Anna. Margret was 14, and clearly would grow into an even more beautiful young woman than she already was. She had Mama's complexion and features. The one thing she had gotten from Papa, though, was his dimpled smile. When she reached adulthood, she might very well rival Mama in beauty, but it was hard to say at the age of 14. Anna, huddled into her side, was just 10, and looked quite similar, except that she had Papa's chocolate eyes, and his straight, thick hair, but it was Mama's colour.

Little Thomas, sitting on my lap, was adorable. He had Mama's long, thick eyelashes, but that was it. The rest came from Papa, with his innocent brown eyes and messy brown hair. I was similar, as I had the same features, but less good-looking, with duller brown eyes and muddy brown hair. I would much rather look like my Mama, or look more like Papa, but I didn't, so...

The first bomb was dropped. The sound was incredibly loud, and Thomas started crying. I soothingly patted his back and hummed a lullaby as Mama comforted the girls. Our eyes met over their heads, and I saw the pain and grief in Mama's eyes as she remembered the first bombing. It brought tears to my eyes, but I wiped my face before the girls could see me crying and worry. I looked away, and saw a beautiful woman with bronze hair talking to a man quietly as they huddled together. I had never seen her before, but it was not like that meant something, living in London. But this woman, she almost rivalled Mama in beauty. Almost.

Thomas reached up and started playing with the locket around my neck, and he drew my gaze towards him. I smiled, and he gave a little, cute grin.

'Why are you smiling? Don't you know people are _dying_? What's wrong with you?_ Papa_ died like this.' Margret cried bitterly, her grey eyes on my now apologetic face. She dashed tears from her face, but to no avail, as she then started to sob into Mama's shoulder, having remembered the night Papa was too late coming back from the pub, and was caught by the first bomb.

'Margret,-'

'Bella, don't. It's not your fault, she's just upset.' Mama whispered. I felt awful, having made my sister cry, but I couldn't comfort her, as I didn't understand why she was so upset over a small, sad smile at my baby brother.

As I looked at her tear-streaked face, I couldn't help but wonder when it all would end. Not only the current bombing, but the war, the grief, the terror and the tears. It felt like a long, long time away...

**_PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE! I NEED TO KNOW IF PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY READING THIS!_**


	2. Chapter 2 Looting and Splitting Up

We all flooded out of the shelter as the all-clear was given. I kept a tight hold on Thomas in my arms as he was starting to get restless. We rushed home to see the damage.

'Oh, thank the Lord.' Mama cried, seeing that our house was still standing, undamaged. Margret and Anna rushed inside and to their shared room.

'Mama! Nothing was taken!' I heard Anna cry as she took a quick inventory of the house. We were lucky. Every time there was a raid, at least 5 houses got looted, but we hadn't been looted yet. Mama and I were in the kitchen preparing something for us all to eat, as it was 2am in the morning and we hadn't had anything to eat yet. Thomas was gurgling at me in broken English words he had picked up.

'Thanks, Annie, baby. We're just making some supper, go and have a bath.' Mama called to my sister. We were making Spam sandwiches. Yum. _Not._ Anyway, when we were done, everyone had one sandwich each, and Mama called the girls while I coaxed Thomas to eat what was left of his sandwich. He somehow managed to eat the bread, leaving the Spam, without separating the pieces of bread. I shook my head, chuckling in amusement as he turned the Spam over and over in his chubby little fingers, trying to find some more bread on it, but he was unsuccessful. There was no bread left. Mama started laughing, and the girls were already giggling at Thomas's peculiar eating habit. Thomas, of course, mimicked them, and laughed his little head off, without understanding what they were laughing at. Eventually, Thomas started fussing, and we realised that it was very late indeed, past 3am. Mama helped the girls to bed, tucking them in, as I got Thomas ready. I bathed him and dressed him in his night clothes, and put him in his bed.

'Night-night, Tommy. I love you.' I whispered as I kissed his cheek.

'Nigh nigh.' He tried to reply. I chuckled and turned off the light. Mama was in the den. I hugged her and kissed her cheek, then said goodnight. As I was getting ready for bed, I thought about Mama and Thomas. Since Papa died, Mama couldn't even look at Thomas for very long, as they looked so similar, but she did love him to bits. She let me look after him, but always kissed him before she went to bed, usually hours after us. I laid on my bed, and just let sleep take over.

The next day went as usual, with me going to the markets and trading our coupons for our food for the day, and Mama home-schooled the girls through the day. Mama told us as we ate our dinner, promptly at that it was very unlikely we would get raided again tonight, so we should get ready for bed and go to sleep. We obeyed her, and she went to bed surprisingly early.

At 1:23am the next morning, the raid sirens went off. I was already awake, having never gone to sleepwaiting for the siren, and called out to everyone. I ran to Tommy's room and swept him up in my arms, then to my sisters' room, and shook them awake. When I got to the hallway again, Mama was there.

'Bella, take Tommy and run. I'll get the girls, but you are already ready to go, so go! Run, Bella!' She cried urgently. I obeyed my mother, and immediately started running to the bomb shelter nearby. I went to the same corner as yesterday, and cuddled Tommy while watching the outside through the doorway, waiting for my family to come through it. Finally, I saw Anna, Margret, and Mama. They were a fair bit away from the shelter, though. Suddenly, a large explosion sounded and the people nearest to the door instantly had it shut. The bomb had rocked the walls of the shelter, and I cried out, knowing my family were still out there. The men closest to the door would not open it, though, so I couldn't see if they were safe or not. They told me to get away from the door, but I would not go, shuddering and crying, waiting for the door to open and Mama, Margret, and Anna run through it, though deep down I knew that the door wouldn't open. There was no way for a woman like my Mama to open it from the outside when three large and muscular men were holding it closed against the force of the bombs. I felt hands on my shoulders, trying to get me away from the door, but I didn't react until the hands tried to take Tommy, who was very possibly the last relative I had, though I would never admit that. I grabbed him tighter, and went to my corner, but only to get away from the crowd that had formed around me, trying to get me to move. I tried to stay awake, but I hadn't slept in over 18 hours, and sleep overthrew my consciousness.

When I awoke, it was to the sound of the all-clear, and I was instantly at the door, trying to open it with one arm and holding Tommy in the other. The door finally creaked open, and what I saw next in the rising sun's light, made me cry out and tears form in my eyes.

_**Oooh, sorry for the cliffy, but I updated quickly, didn't I? The very same day, no less! Please, please, PLEASE review, as I only have evidence of ONE person reading and liking my story! :'( **__**(Woo, thanks **_**theisis70!**_**) :P**_

_**You + review = Me continue! LOL**_

_**Until next time, Jen ;-)**_


	3. AN

OK Guys.

Sorry if anyone thought this was a chapter, though I don't see how as nobody reads this.

The thing is, I don't have any evidence at all taht anybody is liking this story, or even reading it, and I'm not gonna keep writing unless I actually get some proof that there is a reason to. I don't even know if anyone will ever read this AN, because nobody seems to have read the story.

Sorry, but if you want me to keep writing, review? Or PM me, maybe, but just let me know that someone is reading this.


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